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Issue: Vol. 5458 No. 2: 28 May 2024
Type: Article
Published: 2024-05-28
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5458.2.5
Page range: 263-274
Abstract views: 133
PDF downloaded: 1

The oldest Rhantus (Coleoptera, Dytiscidae) from the earliest Eocene Fur Formation, Denmark

Papanin Institute for Biology of Inland Waters Russian Academy of Sciences; 152742; Borok; Nekouzsky District; Yaroslavl Oblast; Russia
Department of Entomology; National Museum; Cirkusová 1740; CZ-193 00 Prague 9 – Horní Počernice; Czech Republic
Laboratory of Arthropods; A. A. Borissiak Paleontological Institute; Russian Academy of Sciences; 117647 Moscow; Russia; Paleontological Laboratory; Cherepovets State University; 162600 Cherepovets; Russia
Natural History Museum of Denmark; Universitetsparken 15; Copenhagen 2100; Copenhagen; Denmark
Coleoptera Dytiscidae Colymbetinae Rhantus Northern Europe Eocene fossil new species recent genus temperate elements

Abstract

†Rhantus villumi sp. nov. is described and illustrated on the basis of a single specimen from the earliest Eocene Fur Formation, Denmark. With an estimated age of ca. 55.4 Ma, it represents the oldest member of an extant genus of the family Dytiscidae. However, the presence of Rhantus in the early Eocene is only slightly older than previous estimates, and generally agrees well with phylogenetic analyses of the subfamily Colymbetinae. The presence of a predominantly temperate genus in the presumably warm Lagerstätte is briefly discussed, supporting the hypothesis of temporary cooling, as suggested by several other invertebrate records from the Fur Formation. It is suggested that the new species could feed on mosquito larvae, which are known from the Lagerstätte. Finally, a record of another Dytiscidae species from the same locality is mentioned, but, due to poor preservation and lack of diagnostic characters, this fossil remains unidentified to genus or species level.

 

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